Little Monsters is a 1989 film starring
Fred Savage and
Howie Mandel (
Yes, that Howie Mandel). Brian (Savage) has recently moved because his parents thought that the family could use a change of scenery. Shortly afterward, strange things start happening for which Brian is blamed. Brian, in turn, blames his little brother.
Eventually, Brian meets Maurice, a monster and the real culprit. Together they break into people's homes and play "amusing" pranks on them. Brian decides that he doesn't want to do this anymore after he starts turning into a monster. Brian's brother gets kidnapped by the villainous Snik, leaving Brian and his friends to rescue him, and they all end up in Malibu, California.
Not to be confused with
Lady Gaga's fanbase.
This film contains examples of:
- Action Girl/Badass Bookworm: Kiersten, who looks suspiciously similar to Haley from The Wizard, another movie starring Fred Savage.
- Bizarrchitecture: The underground Monster Town seems to be small enough to make accessing a city across the United States seem like a walk across town. In addition some of the wooden stairs and structures seem almost M.C. Escher-like.
- Body Horror: We don't really know what Boy really looks like; he wears the rotting skin and school uniform of a real kid over his own body. If his face is any indication, though, it's pretty horrible.
- The Bully: And a very generic one at that.
- Celebrity Paradox: The main boy is played by Kevin from The Wonder Years. His Dad is... The voice of his future self from The Wonder Years.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Minus the comedic part (mostly).
- Creation Sequence: For the monster trap, complete with '80s montage music. It even continues playing after Brian finishes setting up the trap.
- And during dinner, oddly enough. Right in the middle of the montage.
- The Fair Folk: The monsters are all kids who stayed in the world under the bed for too long and have long-since forgotten their former lives; being exposed to light in the real world further disfigures them.
- Fisher Kingdom: The more Brian stays in the monster world, the more monster-like he becomes.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Kevin Arnold plays Brian, while Adult Kevin Arnold plays his dad (and Marv from Home Alone).
- Kafka Komedy: But there's too much Kafka and not enough comedy.
- Kill It with Fire: How Snik meets his end.
- Name's The Same (Phonetically): Snik.
- Monster Town: The underworld populated by monsters which serves as a hub to get into people's bedrooms.
- Real-Life Relative: Fred Savage's brother plays... his brother.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Halfway through the film, the parents mention that they're getting divorced. It's never really brought up again.
- Younger than They Look: Maurice claims to be eleven years old (and to have been eleven for hundreds of years).
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